Review: eBay Full Carbon Saddle (SD-005)

-PRICE AND SHIPPING-
I paid about $50 US for it, plus shipping to Canada. Given the price of carbon saddles from known brands, this is a great price. That said, there is some inherent risk in purchasing what amounts to a no-name saddle from Hong Kong, so the price reflects that.

The seat arrived in less than 2 weeks, which was actually faster than I was expecting, so no concerns on that front.

-WEIGHT AND INITIAL QUALITY-
The existing listing for this saddle (pictured above) indicates a weight of 110g, which is exactly what mine weighted on my scale. However, I seem to recall a posted weight of something in the 90g-ish range in the initial listing, but it is no longer active. In any event, the posted weight is right on the money, which is actually rare - and surprising to be honest.

The weight was exactly half of my 220g (on my scale) WTB Rocket V Team Race saddle (longest name of a saddle, ever), so it offers nice weight savings.

I should also point out that the currently listed saddle seems to have branding on it now, whereas my original order was bare weave with gloss finish - see photo below:

Caption: Always smart to work on your bike near your wife's glassware.

In terms of quality out of the box, there were no rough edges or gouges, the weave seamed uniform, and the coating was even and smooth.

There are no metal components to speak of - the carbon rails are fused into the seat itself.

-INSTALLATION-
No surprises here. I installed it on an S-Works carbon seatpost which is pretty flexible in what it can accommodate. The rails themselves are round, so there is no concern about oval ones not fitting a given clamping system.

[EDIT] - I had another look at the saddle rails and the appear to be slightly oval. So, just FYI, the profile is not perfectly round.

The rails are metered - as shown in the eBay photo - so that's helpful, although I think it will scrape off rather easily - it doesn't seem to be under the coating.

There is one part that scared the b-geezus out of me: applying the specified 80 in-lbs of torque on the rails. I held my breath as I did the final tightening, but there were no creaks, and most importantly no cracks! Haven't heard a sound from the saddle or post since install. (Do yourself a favour and use carbon assembly paste where required.)

-COMFORT (OR LACK THEREOF)-
OK, so you know I'm going to tell you that eveyone's butt is different, so a saddle that works for my ass may not suit you.

The reason I picked the "SD-005" is that is most closely resembled my previous WTB Rocket V Team Race (sorry, like I said it's the longest saddle name out there). As you can see in the photo, they are at least similar and both have the "nut channel" in the middle. The carbon saddle is thinner though:

Caption: Like my fancy paper towel display/saddle holder? Classy.

As reference, I wear a removable chamois, and wear it inside of my riding shorts that already have a chamois - although it is usually in rough shape. So let's call it a "1.5x" chamois coating on my ass. I ride a StumpJumper hardtail, so no cushioning from the suspension here.

In addition to normal bush rides, I run a 30k loop that consists of mixed asphalt, gravel, and flat trail. It was this loop where I first tested the saddle.

For the first 20 minutes everything was perfect - surprisingly so. No pain, no discomfort. However, things got uncomfortable after that, and I started to get uncomfortable for the rest of the ride. Let's face it - during this loop I'm in the seat almost all the time, and I'm running a freakin' hardtail - doesn't get much worse in terms of seat time.

However, my next few runs were in the woods and the seat wasn't even an issue. I'm obviously out of the saddle quite a bit, but runs of 1.5 to 2 hours were no issue at all. Would I use it on an endurance race? No way. But for a typical outing you would be fine.

On a related note, I do not find myself slipping out of the seat due to the gloss finish. I think this relates more to seating position than anything though.

I should also discuss the flex in this saddle. There is actually "some" flex that you can detect to the rear, where the seat is split. You cannot really flex it by hand, but with your full weight on the seat you'll notice some flex over bumps. Some folks in this forum have indicated that the Totem carbon saddles have quite a bit of flex, but I can't speak to the "SD-005" relative to it. All I can say is there is "some" flex, which I'll gladly take.

I'll finish this section of the review by telling you that I've run the "flat loop" at least half a dozen times since the first, and my ass was fine for the full hour. Not sure what happened, but I'm fine now. Maybe my ass is harder now. (Not sure what that means.) Your mileage may vary of course.

-SUMMARY-
This purchase was a bit of a risk, and while the price was reasonable I could have essentially thrown $50 out the window. However, I do have about 6 saddles in my basement (some OEM, some purchased later), so wasting money on a saddle that just doesn't work for you isn't anything new to any of us.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fit and finish, and personally, I'm glad I was able to find one without the recent branding. Not that the colours look bad on the existing one, but I prefer the raw with gloss look.

To be honest, I half expected this thing to crack as I torqued the rails to spec, but it didn't, and as mentioned above I haven't heard a peep from the saddle (or seatpost) since the installation. That's probably the biggest surprise.

It's still on my bike, and I haven't changed the saddle back, so I suppose that is saying something.

I'm building up a single speed right now and was considering a full carbon saddle after sitting on one in a bike shop a while back. I was already planning on buying a few Hylix branded parts for the new SS on ebay today and it looks like they have this same saddle branded under their name. I'll probably get it that way all my off-brand stuff matches :-)

Added an important edit to the original review. The rails don't appear to be perfectly round as I first thought.

I'm about to move this saddle to a different bike with an S-Works single bolt carbon seatpost. This assembly has "channels" for the rails and much tighter tolerances for rail diameter. I'll get back asap with the details.

Tested the carbon saddle on my single bolt seatpost and it was a borderline fit. As mentioned, if you have a mounting system with tight rail specifications, you'll want to beware as the rails are not perfectly round.

I have a similar eBay saddle and the rails weren't round either. Not off by much and it didn't affect the adjustment, but it was there. I used it for a couple of rides, but didn't like the total lack of cushion. I ride a FS bike, and it was fine for most of it. But every once in a while, I'd get a surprise hit while seated and that wasn't fun. I use it on my TT/Tri bike now and for rides up to 2 hours or so, it's absolutely fine. My previous saddle had some flex in it, so I went back to that for MTB.

I got mine for $52 shipped a while back; it's hard to go wrong for the price. I've had it for almost 2 years now and no issues (though it's been on a road bike for the vast majority of that time).

It's not carbon, but this is what I'm using. It's 140 grams and it's the most comfortable saddle I have owned. I would say that I have owned about 10 different saddles. In fact, one day I forgot to put my padded shorts on. I didn't even realize it till I got back and took my baggies off. It's never been uncomfortable, ive never had to wiggle my ass around to get a comfy spot and its never made me sore. I think it's so important to find the right angle of your saddle. I put it level, like I always do, and it felt perfect. I put on a 10mm longer fork on and it didn't feel so good. So, I had to readjust it to level, where it now feels good again.

That looks very much like a selle San Marco aspide saddle. You probably know they make a variety of aspide saddles, padded, full carbon, and one with round rails. You may want to try an aspide with round rails if you're using a side bolt seatpost. They used to make a full carbon one with ti round rails. I've snatched a couple up on eBay for a fraction of the original price. I use the full carbon on my road bike and the padded versions for my XC and CX bikes. Love the shape.

By the way you can get this seat with no logos from Flyxii.com $55 and I don't think they charge shipping. That is the site I bought my Carbon frame seatpost and saddle. All Good. They also now have a Matte finish on this saddle.

Word of advise is make sure to follow the 80 lbs of torque because my seat came lose a couple times until I really tightened it down.

My short opinion is the seat is definitely hard and you butt will hurt the first couple rides but i got used to it and now I don't have pain.

By the way you can get this seat with no logos from Flyxii.com $55 and I don't think they charge shipping. That is the site I bought my Carbon frame seatpost and saddle. All Good. They also now have a Matte finish on this saddle.

Word of advise is make sure to follow the 80 lbs of torque because my seat came lose a couple times until I really tightened it down.

My short opinion is the seat is definitely hard and you butt will hurt the first couple rides but i got used to it and now I don't have pain.

Thanks for the tip Zachvii. Was that shipping free "worldwide', or just the US - that makes a difference. In any event, an option for no logos and matte finish is great.

I would just warn about the 80 in-lbs of torque - that number came from my seat post specifications. Consult your seat post manufacturer for their specs for tightening torque.

Mine broke

I've been using a similar Hylix branded model for about 15 rides or so and really liked the way it felt on my road bike. I initially used it on my single speed 29er, but I didn't like it at really high cadences so I put it on my road bike. It hurt a tiny bit at first, but by the second or 3rd ride I didn't even notice it.

Both rails suddenly broke on a recent road bike ride during a section of pavement that was really rough. I weigh 190lbs, so I'm probably at or over the upper limits for what this saddle can handle.

I'm shipping it back this Monday for a warranty exchange. Hopefully I'll drop a few pounds and try it again and it will last longer.

Thx for the post. Hard to say from those photos, but that saddle seems pretty much identical to mine, aside from the branding. I'm 185 with gear, and have been using it on my MTB exclusively. So far no issues, although I was half expecting some reports like this to come in. Somewhat surprised it happened on a road section though.

It could have already been stressed quite a bit from trails, only to finally give out on the road. 50-yr-old men don't really destroy their backs bending down to pick up the remote; they do it playing H.S. football, moving furniture, and jumping off balconies into pools when they're drunk at 22. The remote is just the last straw.

I picked up the flyxii.com version and so far put on about 60km x-country on my single speed. Yah, the first few km were pretty hard on my sit bones, but it was also my first ride of the season... 2nd ride I hardly noticed it, so far so good!

108g for the matte sd-005 and ~60kg for me, btw. $56 advertised, but actually ~$59 - she said 'paypal charges'.